


Evangelion: Beneath the wings of angels

by Jerricom



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/F, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Psychological Drama, longfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:09:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14084610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerricom/pseuds/Jerricom
Summary: In the aftermath of a nuclear war triggered by the greatest natural disaster humanity has ever seen, an organisation called NERV had developed the towering cybernetic Evangelions in response to a new threat to humankind. In the shadows the puppetmasters of SEELE prepare for what they call Instrumentality, but not even they can control the future; will they succeed? What does Unit-01 have in store for Shinji and his mother? Can Mari and Rei find even footing together? Will Misato and Ritsuko reconcile? And just what is Kaji and this new boy, Ryan, up to anyway? Read and find out!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A slightly improved version of the story "Beneath the Archangel's wing" that is currently in progress on Fanfiction.net, that story is mine, don't worry I havn't stolen anything. I will be continuing the story on there while writing a mostly identical but slightly improved version on here, and eventually they will be finished on both sites.
> 
> I hope.
> 
> Just thought I'd say that before you begin reading. Enjoy!

**Evangelion: Beneath the wings of angels.**

**Prologue chapter 1: Eva**  
  
The sunlight strikes him right in the face as he exits the automatic train, forcing him to raise a hand to shield against the momentarily blinding light. The young boy, Shinji Ikari, takes a moment to get his bearings and notes with some confusion that the station is completely empty exempt for those working there, it's as if the concept of rush hour didn't apply to the city. He lets out a forlorn little sigh, hefts his backpack over his shoulders and heads for the main station building. _Not that I was expecting the red carpet, but still.._

Making it out of the railway station and into the not-so-much bustling city of Tokyo-3, Shinji looks around, and then takes up a crumbled-up picture from his pocket. The small card shows the image of a young woman clad in flowing purple hair that goes well beyond her shoulders, a tight-fitting yellow tank top and with a pair of sunglasses in her hand. Turning the card over it says to wait for 'Misato Katsuragi' at the railway station, along with a phone number at the bottom. _Suppose I'll find a phone and call her, I can't see her anywhere. Whatever my dad called me here for it sounded urgent._

As he walks, Shinji ponder whether he's happy or not about the fact that Misato is _not_ his cool step-aunt who's going to take him home to his dad from the class trip to the mountains. Oh no. _The only contact we've had in the past seven-eight years is through video chat, it's not been many hours in total, and now he just calls me in like this?_ Shinji thinks to himself, _I just don't get it._

He rounds a corner and finds a phone, finally. Paying and dialling the number on the back of the photo, Shinji has to wait only a second or two before the call is picked up, a cheeerful young female voice responding “This is Misato Katsuragi, hello!”

He stands still and silent for several long moments, realising he should have had a thought about what to say before calling. He stutters searching for words, finally saying “It's Shinji Ikari, I'm at the train station now, at a phone by a nearby corner. Your number was on the photo, so, uh, I figured I'd call.”

“Ah, sweet! Just on time too. I'm already on my way, be there in a minute or two!” the Misato woman replies, and promptly hangs up, leaving Shinji with another confused and slightly dumb expression as he slowly puts the phone back, mumbling to himself “I'll just... Wait here then.”

Very few cars populate the road that goes past the railway station, making it easy for Shinji to discern by the approaching sound the one that probably represents his ride home. Turning around he spies the blue car approaching, and with the sunlight aimed directly towards the driver Shinji can clearly make out the purple mass of hair and black sunglasses. _Yup, that's her alright._

The car slowly grinds to a halt right next to Shinji and the door swings open. “Shinji Ikari?” the woman asks, leaning to the side and craning her head to look up at Shinji as he steps up to the car and answers, “Yes, that's me. You're Misato?”

“That's right,” she replies in that same cheerful tone, taking off her sunglasses, “Get in, I'll be taking you to your dad.” She has dark green eyes, but thanks to being the shy sort Shinji does his best not to stare too much at the admittedly very beautiful twenties woman as he stoves his bags into the back seat before taking the seat next to Misato, who puts the car into gear and they roll off down the empty streets. She's wearing a red tank top over a black dress rather than the tank top but it still leaves, in Shinji's mind, uncomfortably little to the imagination.

After a few minutes of driving in silence, Misato suddnely speaks up in a friendly but slightly more sedate tone than earlier, “So, Shinji.. I don't know what you've been told, but if you have questions regarding your father's work, I could have some answers for you.”

Shinji stirs from his own silence and slowly turns his head towards Misato as he thinks, feeling both like he has a million questions and none at the same time, “Oh, uhm... I guess I'll ask the obvious question: what exactly does he do?”

Misato takes a moment before she replies, weighing by the looks of it how much she'll tell him. He shrugs, muttering “That his work is very top-secret and out-of-the-way has never, ironically, been a secret.”

A small, wry smirk spreads across Misato's lips as she nods, “He does prefer to let people know his work is above their paygrade rather than pretend innocence. Let's just say that he's the commander of one of _NERV_ 's five worldwide bases, NERV-3 to be exact, part of an organisation that has existed for about a decade. We're working on the very top cutting-edge science and tech you'd probably never have heard about if it wern't for me, funded largely by the UN. All those cheesy mecha anime you've probably watched? We can make them happen."

“Really?” Shinji says, sceptical, “And what does he need _me_ for, who can't even get good grades at math? Did my mother leave and he needs moral support?”

Misato snickers at that, her face smirk widening to a toothy grin, “Hate to dissapoint, but I think you'll like the real reason a lot less than that one. Those mecha I mentioned? We need you to star in one, for real. We have a giant robot in a bunker below the city, and you need to pilot it.”

“...You what? That makes no sense, miss.”

“You're going to have to trust me for now, kiddo. It'll be much easier to explain once we've-”

Misato is broken off mid-sentence by her phone ringing. She picks it up, looks at the screen, and her expression changes to a mix of surprise and concern, she mumbles “Why would _they_ be calling me” and brings the phone to her ear.

  
– –

– –

   
Slamming down the phone, the elderly man rises from his elevated position, and looks around the massive cavern of a command centre. One half is occupied by an empty void, the other half is taken up by a set of elevated platforms set up in three levels, the man in question standing behind a plain metal desk on the smallest level at the top. A sigh escapes his lips. _So it's finally starting, then_.

He opens his mouth to speak, loud so that everyone even down at the bottom level can hear him, “I've just received a call from the JSSDF reporting an enormous object coming in from the sea, on a straight course for Tokyo-3. A message was send from a civilian plane, describing the object as a vaguely human-like creature almost as tall as a sky-scraper.”

From the level below him, a woman barely out of her teens sitting at one of the three junior command officer stations speaks up, worry evident in her voice, “Angel, commander Fuyutsuki?”

“I assume so,” the old man replies, and activates a small mic attached to his ear that amplifies his voice so that it reaches every corner of the enormous room and into every speaker in the complex, “All combatants and command staff, report to your stations! Combat code two, red alert!”

Throughout the massive underground complex alarms turn on, painting every corridor in red light as men and women abandon their idle activities, scrambling to their station and their duties. Inside the massive command centre, the empty half of the room is lit up by layers of holographic displays showing the city, the region the city occupies, the entirety of Japan, and the massive underground cavity below Tokyo-3, within which NERV lies. A viewscreen large enough to encompass the entire far wall also blinks to life, currently showing a live feed of the ocean just outside Tokyo Bay.

“What is our situation?” Fuyutsuki asks as he takes his seat again.

“Enemy not yet detected by our own sensor stations,” the reply comes from a man below Fuyutsuki, smart and military-like. “Judging by the reports though, it won't stay that way for long. I'm guessing at contact within the hour.”

The third officer present below Fuyutsuki speaks up now, “Interception systems operating at 20% efficiency. We can't bring any of the heavy guns to bear yet, they haven't been cleared for use.”

“Very well. Keep working on it, Shigure,” Fuyutsuki replies, “Someone get the commander up here! I'm calling Misato. I believe she's in town to pick up the fourth child at this time.  
 

– –

– –

  
The car picks up speed, so much that it exceeds the speed limit. “Holy crap, what's the freaking hurry?!” Shinji half-screams as the car speeds down the roads, making turns that are to clumsy and hap-hazard for Shinji's comfort. Outside, every screen display's gone from displaying commercials or whatever to:

**Evacuation code Red**

**Please drop current activity and head for your designated shelter**

**This is not a drill  
**   


Voice completely lost of the earlier friendliness, there's now a flat professionalism about Misato that tells Shinji that something isn't right, “I think you'll be getting your answers sooner rather than later. What's presumed to be the enemy has been sighted off the coast and is heading for this city. I'm getting you to NERV HQ pronto, so civil introductions with the rest will have to wait.” Face hardened and eyes focused upon the road, _for all it helps her driving_ Shinji thinks, Misato changes the gears up one more level.

They continue in relative silence, Shinji finally mastering his nerves; the only noise being the roar of the engine, the agonised screams of the car's tires and the alarms outside still announcing the evacuation. The car eventually reaches a checkpoint, and once past it -Misato just flashed some card and they were let through- they enter a car-sized elevator, which takes them downwards in a rather steep descent.

And then there was light. Again.

Shinji can only sit and stare in awe, squeezing his face against the car's window, trying to take in as much of the massive underground cavity as he can. It's a dome, with the city sitting on top of the massive cave above ground, the bottom floor being covered by roads, grass, even trees. Underneath the city, upon the floor of the cavern there is a chalk-white pyramid built next to an artificial concrete lake. The underground space is, all in all, large enough that the actual lake down by the pyramid look like a swimming pool by comparison.

They continue along a rail path built into the side of the cavern, and eventually reach the ground, where they once again are taken underground which seems a tad excessive to Shinji. Finally they come to a stop inside a fairly unremarkable garage, and Misato parks the car. They both exit, Misato gesturing to Shinji to follow her into one of the elevators waiting for them. She keeps a hurried pace, and seem tense as the lift goes up.

After a moment’s standing still however she suddenly relaxes, her shoulders slumping, and she turns her head down towards Shinji, “I'm sorry I just dropped you from my mental radar there... The command central, Central Dogma as we call it, has received word from the Japanese military that a massive object is approaching Tokyo-3.” She falls silent for a moment; with a low grunt she puts her hands on her hips, “I might as well tell you, we’ll run into the others any minute now anyway. The being that’s approaching… We believe it's one of a race of supernatural beings we call Angels. Your job here is to fight them.”

“...What?”

“You will be the pilot of a war machine specifically designed to combat the Angels, something we call an Evangelion. I'm taking you to our chief scientists and engineers so that we can give you some rudimentary practice before the Angel arrives. We will then send you out against the Angel in combat, with the support of the JSSDF.” The flat professionalism again.

“What?!” Shinji blurts out upon hearing this, stuttering as he tries and fails to say something more. There's a few moments of perfect silence between the two as Shinji stares up at Misato, hoping that it's all some bad joke. Misato's shoulders slump, and her face hardens. She turns her eyes away from Shinji, back towards the elevator door. She suddenly seems sad, like one powerless to change a bad situation, “I'm sorry, Shinji. I like it no less than you do, but you won't be alone here, and you will be well-prepared.”

Shinji opens his mouth to protest again, but is halted by the elevator stopping and the two are deposited into yet another featureless corridor. Misato picks up the pace, Shinji following, their shoes clacking against the metal floor. He gives up trying to protest for now, and instead asks with a hint of irritated sarcasm, “I won't be alone, huh? And who's going to help me? NERV's chief scientist that I heard my mother mention in passing _once_?”

“Oh yes... _Ritsuko Akagi_.” There's a rather clear indication in Misato's voice that these women aren't at the best of terms, “She heads this place's science division, while I am the head of military ops. The commander still has supreme power over this place, but he can't do everything on his own. And yes, she'll be helping during your fight with the Angel as well.”

“Okay,” Shinji responds. And once again he's about to say something more when he's interrupted by rather narrowly rounding a corner – and running his face straight into someone's chest, plain surprise combined by the impact of batting your forehead against something like a ribcage knocking Shinji back so hard that he would fall, were it not for being caught in the last second by Misato.

When he regains his balance a tall woman in her early thirties, with short, thick blonde hair stands before him. She's dressed in a labcoat, her right hand just falling from clutching the point Shinji collided with, looking equally surprised. Next to her stands an even younger woman with black hair, not much taller or older than Shinji. “Well, Misato. Just in time, it seems,” says the taller of the two, “And you have the fourth child with you.”

“Yes I do. This is Ritsuko Akagi, by the way,” Misato says in a _very_ dry tone, not taking her eyes off the blonde, who in turn folds her arms and motions to the third woman, standing patiently and waiting next to Ritsuko, “And this is Maya Ibuki. She's a senior bridge officer here at NERV, and my assistant. Please follow her, she'll take you to your father.”

Maya nods and shoots Shinji a warm, welcoming smile. “Please come this way,” she says and gestures down the hallway behind her. Shinji only shrugs as acknowledgement and falls in behind her as she sets off at a brisk pace down the corridor. He glances at Maya as they walk, and comes to the conclusion that his dad is not in fact commander of an organisation that will save humanity from invasion by aliens, but running his own personal harem. _Great_.

“I assume you've only met Misato, Ritsuko and me here, so far?” Maya suddenly asks in a shy tone Shinji could easily have heard in himself while clutching a folder close to her chest, her azure blue eyes directed directly at Shinji. Knowing eyes, the eyes that can read you in an instant.

“Uh.. Yeah, that's right,” replies Shinji. Flashing a small grin to go with her penetrating gaze, Maya continues, seemingly amused, “Well, don't worry. It's not like your father's running a harem here or anything.”

  
– 

  
Shinji and Maya having left, Ritsuko gestures to Misato down the corridor that Ritsuko and Maya came from, “Come on, Misato. The JSSDF defence committee wants to see you.”

“Sounds important,” Misato says, a frown coming onto her face to go with the surprised tone in her voice. The blonde nods, keeping her neutral calm. The set of corridors they now enter are more populated than previously, doors lining the walls which occasionally deposit NERV employees into the winding metal pathways. All of the regular NERV grunts are wearing beige jackets with dark orange stripes at the shoulders and pants to match, whereas the women wear short beige skirts and white linen tights instead of the pants. Distinguishing the dark brown formal uniform of NERV-3's deputy commander approaching through the crowd is not hard, and they both slow down to meet him.

“Commander Fuyutsuki,” Misato says at length, a small smile crossing her face as she takes the elderly man by the hand, shaking it briefly but vigorously. Ritsuko and the deputy commander simply exchange a nod for greeting, and the three are off down the corridor again. “You're looking good, Misato. How've you been holding up since you were out on assignment?” Fuyutsuki breaks into a small smile of his own, reminding Misato of a grandfather asking his step-children what happened during the last school trip. The question prompts a hearty chuckle from her, and she draws her hand through her flowing purple hair as she gathers her response, “Well, it took a while to get used to the western food and customs. I hope I remember how to act properly,” she says with a toothy grin.

“You probably shouldn't be too concerned, you might have learned a thing or two in Europe,” Ritsuko breaks in, prompting Misato to spin on her heel, shout “Shut your face!” at Ritsuko and complete the turn on her heels to catch up to Fuyutsuki, having lost only two steps on him. The deputy commander doesn't seem to mind the little outburst, but after a moment he does raise an eyebrow like he's remembered something, and falls a step behind Misato to adress Ritsuko, “Speaking of acting properly... How are we doing with Unit-00? Getting any closer to a solution to the Vessel problem?”

“I believe so,” she replies, pondering, “It won't be ready to be used for another two-three days, however. We're going to have to rely upon Unit-01 until then.”

“Very well,” Fuyutsuki says as they round another corridor, coming up to a large stair. When they reach the base, Misato grins to a halt and turns around, eyes affixed upon Fuyutsuki, “I need to ask... Judging by all this activity,” Misato throws her arms out, gesturing at the significant traffic in the corridor, “I'll assume you weren't kidding when you called. So, why are you taking me to the JSSDF defence committee, and not Central Dogma?”

Ritsuko comes up to Misato, giving earlier mentioned purple-hair a brief glance as she goes, and then looks up at the deputy commander, “Do you really believe it's the Angels?”

Fuyutsuki frowns, “Indeed I do. But we don't _know_ for certain.”

“What else could it be?” Ritsuko replies, folding her arms, her voice unusually harsh for a second.

“If I knew that...” Fuyutsuki bounces his gaze between the two women. Misato folds her arms, expression as determined as her tone, “It's the Angels. And we're not ready.”

“Not by a long shot...” Ritsuko injects with a gloomy undertone.

At this, Fuyutsuki chuckles a little to himself, knowing that one is foolish to argue with these two when they agree, and simply states, “Well I hope you aren't quite as adamant about that before the defence committee. They need at least some relatively good news or they'll do something stupid.

The two women exchange a quick glance, and then follows the deputy commander up the stairs. As they get to the top, Misato speaks again, “Look, unless the committee's planning on talking the Angels to death, they're a waste of time. I should be up in Central Dogma and Ritsuko should be down helping Maya with Shinji and Unit-01.”

Fuyutsuki's shoulders slump at this, and he turns to Misato, voice raised ever so slightly, “Damn you and your impatience _._ They're just scared. They haven't _seen_ what you've seen, only the reports, the data SEELE and you collected. It's all just theory to them.”

Once again Misato's eyebrows furrow into a frown, borderline angry, “That why they've been constantly denying me promotion, denying NERV the budget it needs?”

Fuyutsuki raises a hand up in a defensive manner at this accusation, “You know that's not true. NERV, and especially you, lieutenant colonel, have been a rather sharp thorn in the side of their attempts to rebuild the Japanese military for the last decade. You should feel lucky that we have what we've got, and that we have _only_ because we have the Evangelions to show off. The fact that you're the sole survivor of the second impact, acting as the public face for an organization of mad scientists, hasn't helped either.”

“Had we not had Unit-00 and Unit-0X to keep the Third Angel locked up three years ago everything could've gone to hell, commander, and they know that,” Misato says.

After a second's hesitation, Fuyutsuki responds, “I know, Misato, and so does the defence committee. Had it not been for Rei's and Aoi's actions and your excellent command during the incident NERV would have been dismantled there and then. The fact that the JSSDF didn't have to intervene was the only thing that saved us.”

“That, and your good word, sir?” Ritsuko injects from behind Misato.

“Of course,” Fuyutsuki nods, “I'm the last one that would see NERV be taken apart by government bureaucracy. They just need the same insurances now that they needed then, you know how quick bureaucrats are to forget old enemies.”

“I'm a soldier, Fuyutsuki, not a politician,” Misato states with an evident dislike for the latter in her voice. Fuyutsuki nods, his face set, “I don't need you to be either. I just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to help stop the Angels.”

– –

* * *

– –

 _I'm not sure if this is awesome or terrifying,_ Shinji thinks. He was taken along by Maya through a maze of corridors, a few elevators, to finally take a short boat ride across a small _lake_ inside a hangar, and then he was brought into the presence of what these people here at NERV call an Evangelion. A machine with a dominantly purple-and-green colour scheme over a skin-tight suit of armour stands before him, shaped just as if a person was hiding behind the armour. Tall as a small sky-scraper, pylons of some sort attached to each shoulder, Shinji just decided that he could at least give it a trial run. Surely whatever's coming ain't got nothing on this?

“Shinji, please leave your shirt here, it'll get in your way in the entry plug,” says Maya as she gestures to a trolley standing upon the bridge next to them. The Evangelion is locked rather firmly in place by a pair of _freaking walls_ that holds the robot's arms in place, and a large bridge that serves to 1) lock down the Evangelion at the shoulders, just next to the neck and 2) enable people to get near the thing, as the Evangelion is drowned chest up in the same red liquid the earlier-mentioned lake is made up of.

Shinji goes on to unbutton and remove his shirt, leaving him in his black jumper, and in exchange he's given a headset-like device that Maya says he needs in order to pilot. “It augments your synchronization with the Evangelion,” she explains as if he's supposed to understand what that means, “Now, let's get you into the entry plug. I'll be going back to the command centre now, but we'll talk you through everything we do here, alright?”

“Uh, alright,” Shinji responds dumbly as he's shown around the back of the Evangelion by another NERV employee, and up a ramp. Then there's a sound like a crane coming to life overhead, and looking up he can see a holding arm lifting down a cylinder of some description, almost completely featureless exempt for a hatch that opens up before him. Inside there is nothing but a hatch at the bottom and a strange, sleek seat with a pair of butterfly wing controllers, one for each hand, with a set of buttons and a slit along the side of the seat where the controllers can move back and forth.

A part of the armour plating covering the Evangelion's upper neck opens up and reveals a hole in the evangelion's spine, where he guesses this cylinder is supposed to fit in. Shinji stands and inspects the cylinder tentatively, thinking _This day has been so full of crazy,_ _what am I doing_ _ **,**_ incredulous and strangely giddy. He freely admits to himself that despite the fact that this is apparently for real, and dangerous, it's every nerd's wet dream come to life before him and he is definitely nerdy enough to be excited.

“Shinji!”

A woman's voice echoes through the hangar, one that snaps Shinji right back to Earth. Turning around, he sees a woman walking up to him across the bridge, approaching the ramp he's standing on. Short brown hair and slender figure, Yui Ikari's shoes echo against the metal as she steps up to Shinji. A smile breaks out over his face and Shinji steps away from the entry plug, “Mother? You are here too? Where-” Shinji gets out no more as Yui embraces him tightly, “It's so good to see you again, Shinji, but to meet under these circumstances... I'm sorry.”

“Yes, it would've been nice to have you here as insurance when they tried to convince me to get in the giant robot... I'm no child, but I feel like getting the input from someone I _know_ would be reassuring.”

Yui sighs, and lets Shinji go, staring into his eyes, “I'm here now. Had the situation been any different, I would not be encouraging you to do this, but this is important. You are our last line of defence.”

“Figured I'd find you both here,” says another voice from below. As Shinji and Yui turn their heads down towards the voice, Yui keeping a hand on Shinji's shoulder, it dawns on him that surely he's been set up _all along_. This _is_ the most elaborate and exaggerated late birthday party _ever_.

Down below, sporting a black formal jacket and pants, Gendo Ikari adjusts his amber glasses as he looks up at the two, “We don't have much time, I'm afraid. Shinji, I'm standing with your mother in that we need you on this. I hate to say it, but introductions will have to wait. The Angel is on its way.” Shinji is still amazed at how his dad can look so stoic and yet sound supportive.

Yui sighs again, and lets go of Shinji. She gives him one last look, as if trying to reassure him, and then she begins stepping down the stairs towards Gendo, who continues, “We'll be walking you through this. Now get in the giant robot, son,” he finishes with a very subtle little smile, his voice almost cheery for a moment. And it does reassure Shinji.

Somewhat.

_Awesome._

And so he climbs in.

  
– –

– -

  
“Alright, like Ray Arnold said: hold on to your butts, we're starting synchronisation!”

Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba grins to himself as he taps a last button on his own keyboard, the main viewscreen coming to life, displaying the purple Evangelion as it stands now in an enormous, featureless white room. The transport pad which is still holding the motionless mecha slowly sinks into the floor, and Shigeru gestures dramatically to the girl on the other side of the command bridge, “Take over, Maya.”

Nodding, she swiftly taps in a few commands, a code, and then makes way for Ritsuko, who taps in one of her own. Yui then does the same, having arrived at the bridge together with Gendo. “The Evangelion is cleared for synchronisation,” she states, anticipation evident in her voice. “Ready, Shinji?”

A tense “Mhm” is the response they get from Shinji, who is now confined to the entry plug inside Unit-01.

“Beginning preliminary contact. First stage connection initialised.”

“Roger,” it comes from the lower third level, “filling the entry plug with LCL.”

  
–

  
Shinji can, with increasing worry, notice how a bright amber liquid starts filling the entry plug from the bottom. “The hell is this? _Why is there_ -” and he gets out no more as the liquid gets over his head and he has to hold his breath, that western proverb that he's taken water over his head coming to mind. After a moment, Ritsuko's voice comes in through the mic, “This stuff is called LCL. It will act as a shock absorbent during combat. It's oxygenated, too, you can breathe it perfectly well.”

“That's the truth, Shinji. It's harmless to you,” Yui injects.

Fighting down the instinct that tells him _not_ to open his mouth because he's _about to freaking drown_ , Shinji takes a moment to convince himself that his own mother wouldn't to do that. He finally opens his mouth, and instead has to fight down the urge to vomit as the liquid fills his lungs. But he does survive.

  
–  
  


“Good,” Maya continues, focusing intently on the scaling data streams on her console, “Connect main power.”

“Connecting main power,” Makato Hyuga announces, the third second-level bridge officer.

“Commencing secondary connections. A-10 connections nominal.”

“Set the thought configuration to Japanese,” Ritsuko says, hand on Maya's shoulder as they go. She taps in some command into her console, and then announces with anticipation, “Bi-directional circuits are open. All preliminary contacts established.”

“Synchronization rate holding at.. 30%.. 35%.. 40%.. 42%!” Yui says with surprise and amazement. “Impressive. You're doing good, Shinji!” she adds with cheer unusual for someone usually so dignified.

“Uh.. Yeah, that's great, please tell me the magical rainbow ride I just took was normal?” Shinji sounds somewhat distressed, the small screen in the top right corner of the viewscreen showing him moving his head here and there and poking at the walls of the plug. And Yui can't help notice, with a smile growing on her lips, that the Evangelion's head is moving as well.

  
– –

* * *

– –

  
Ritsuko's surprised that Shinji's learning to operate the Evangelion so quickly. Well, the term 'operate' being relative, he's just figured how to jump from one side of the room to the other without falling over. _Oh joy,_ she thinks. “Alright, Shinji, I want you to try to draw your knife. There's one stored inside each one of your shoulder pylons. Just think 'deploy knife', and then draw.”

The Evangelion ceases its ridiculous hopping about the test room, and stands as if petrified for a moment; the words 'KNIFE DEPLOYED' are after another moment displayed on the main viewscreen, and you can see the left shoulder pylon opening up at the front to reveal a handle. The Eva fumbles for a bit as it tries to draw the knife, and eventually succeeds, inspecting the stylish weapon as the edge begins to glow subtly white.

“That wasn't so hard... How do I put it back in there?” Shinji wonders, and Ritsuko is just about to respond when an angry red light starts blinking over at Shigeru's console, “The hostile's been sighted, approaching fast. It'll reach Tokyo-3 outskirts in approximately fifteen minutes!”

“Blood pattern blue confirmed,” Maya reports from her station.

“Well then. Training session's over, Shinji. Let's get the EVA to the launch pad.” Walking over to Makato, Misato taps in a few commands of her own, then asks Makato, “Can you get a visual image of the target?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

The viewscreen momentarily turns off, and then flashes to life again.

Then all in the bridge are faced with the statue of the Angel before them, a living proof of how small mankind ultimately is, at least technically speaking.

The Angel's still a little to far out for anyone to make a detailed account of the creature, but Misato can tell as much: it has the shape of a human torso, with what looks like a single leg hanging down from the 'hip' that lacks a defined foot, unmoving despite the Angel's rapid transit over the land. Its skin colour is a borderline black grey tint. She also thinks she can discern three pairs of thin, white appendages like bones sticking out from some point on the thing's back. She can see white lines going around the Angel's torso, but can't make out what they are, exactly. There is also a white dot between what would constitute the Angel's 'shoulders' had it had arms.

Looking down at the ground, you can see rows of tanks lining up in the path of the approaching Angel. In the skies VTOLs soar through the evening gloom, and all at once missiles, rockets and tank fire hails down upon the Angel. Then there's a flash of light, centred upon the white dot on Angel's upper chest between the shoulders. The ground vibrates as a massive explosion rips up the amassed tank columns, a pillar of pink energy shoots into the sky and as it reaches the cloud layer it develops two horizontal pillars as well, taking the form of a radiant, crimson crucifix of pure energy.

**End of prologue chapter 1.**

 


	2. Chapter 2: The ultimate soldier

**Chapter 2, Prologue: The ultimate soldier.**

The peace and calm around Tokyo-3 is broken by the thundering roar of VTOL jets as they soar overhead, launching from hidden air bases while lines of tanks emerge on the roads to take up firing positions. Bomber aircraft hide above the cloud layer and artillery batteries hide amongst the trees. The order to fire is given as a massive, beaked face comes around the corner of a nearby mountain pass. The VTOL jets release a swarm of missiles towards the creature, impacting against its chest without causing any apparent damage.

The aircraft scatter in pairs as the hidden artillery unleash a second volley of missile fire, at the same time as the tanks below open fire, raining high-explosive and armour-piercing death upon the Angel. It actually stops at this and looks about itself in apparent confusion over all the racket, although the barrage only manages to tear up surrounding mountains with the rockets that missed and the tanks’ shells that bounce in every direction. Seeing as nothing has hurt it thus far, the bombers up on high are called in, dropping monstrously oversized missiles on top of the Angelwhich in turn sends cluster munitions every which way in a torrent of destruction while the main warhead detonates with such force that the thud can be felt all the way at NERV, flattening everything within almost a kilometre radius in the explosions. But still the Angel stands, its skin only showing very superficial scarring.

– –

– –

 _If anything, we’ve just made it angry_ , Misato thinks, disgruntled, as the JSSDF assault peters out before the Angel. The three JSSDF generals sitting at the desk on the uppermost level, with Gendo and Fuyutski standing behind and beside them, huddle together in a moment’s conference, having been shocked to say the least at the ineffectiveness of the Japanese army assault.

“Perhaps we should nuke it from orbit, just to be sure,” Misato mumbles to herself, her face displaying a sarcastic grin. Ritsuko who’s standing next to her nods, to Misato’s surprise, “It’d be worth a shot at least.”

And speak of the devil, one of the three generals up above, a gaunt fellow, now leans forward on his spindly little arms and addresses Misato, “Lieutenant Colonel, we’re authorizing a tactical N2 missile strike. You have a silo designed for ICBM launch installed in the eastern mountains, correct?”

“Correct, sir,” Misato replies with a stiff nod.

“Very good,” rumbles the second and burlier man to the left of the first, “Launch it at the target immediately.”

“Yes, sir,” Misato says and spins on her heel, turning towards Makato, “You heard the man. Send the launch codes, the target is the Angel. Quickly now, before it gets too close to the city.”

Makato nods with a “Yes, ma’am!” and starts typing away at his keyboard, sending an information packet down via his console to the command centre at the launch site, and not a minute later a small missile blasts out of the mountainside to the right of the screen. It soars into the evening sky, turns downwards towards the monster in the distance, and careens right into the Angel, like a crossbow bolt on fire – the order is given to darken the viewscreen and then there is a brilliant flash of light, and a massive plume of fire and dust is thrown into the skies as the Angel is consumed by the fires of hell itself. The ground shakes, the viewscreen goes blurry, and a general cheer goes up amongst both the generals above and the junior command staff below. Even Misato allows herself a smirk. She glances up at and past the cheering generals, towards Gendo and Fuyutsuki; her smile promptly falters as she sees the bitter expressions on their faces.

“Receiving data on the target…” someone calls from below through the intercom. The room goes silent with anticipation, and then the screen clears. The Angel is still there, same spot, same stance, its' form blurry from the heat rising into the air around it.

Misato can hear a quiet cacophony of groans and sighs as the screen zooms in on the creature, its skin now scorched and bloated but it is still very much alive. A slit in its chest, covered by a spidernet of bone, is slowly expanding and contracting, showing several folds of wet muscle within as it opens, and the thing’s face, a small circle of white bone with a small beak and two circular little eyes, has been pushed aside and replaced by an almost identical one emerging from behind the old one, albeit larger and with a longer beak, that points straight downwards.

“Well shit,” Misato says at length, folding her arms across her chest. She taps her right index finger against her left upper arm for a moment. “Status of the target?”

“Mostly intact,” Makato reports, “It’s lost approximately nineteen percent of its total mass, but energy output has actually increased – is appears to be regenerating, ma’am.”

At this, the third general who had previously remained silent, a man in his primes with a trained physique but with a voice dark and authoritarian past his age, speak up, “This seems like the perfect time for the JSSDF to stand down and let you relieve us, lieutenant colonel,” to the visible outrage of his to comrades, “You are ready to deploy, I presume?”

Misato shines up with a grin, and she can hear Ritsuko already starting to bark out orders to Shigeru and Maya. “We are as ready as we can be, sir,” responds Misato, doing her outmost to sound confident, and she doesn't have to fake it _much_. This is definitely a moment to shine a little in front of the brass, she thinks. She’s well aware that they could be better prepared with regards to Shinji, but the generals don’t need to be worried for nothing. The Angel is wounded and Shinji will have all the support he could wish for.

“Eva locked in place upon the launch pad,” reports Shigeru. Ritsuko turns to Misato and gives a stiff thumbs-up, Misato nods back with the same cold formality, “Good.” She approaches Maya’s station, and picks up a small mic, wired to Unit-01’s entry plug, “You ready for this, Shinji?” Misato feels a bit dumb the moment she asks, it’s not like they can postpone the battle for the sake of his nerves.

“As good as I'll ever be, I guess. Let's just get this over with.”

_I shouldn't have asked._

Yui has taken position up on high with Fuyutsuki and Gendo, replacing the generals who are now appears to have left, hands clasped ibehind her back in a calm and authoritive fashion. Gendo now takes word, voice level and even, “Very well. Commence operation.”

“Good luck, Shinji, and remember; you are well-protected in there, but you will still partially feel the the damage inflicted upon the Eva. Be careful,” Yui injects just before Misato barks, “EVA Launch!”

– –  
  
– –

Shinji groans as he's pressed down hard against his seat, the Evangelion racing towards the surface up towards Tokyo-3 upon magnetic rails connected to the pad upon which the Eva stands, and then he's almost launched _out_ of his seat as the Eva reaches the surface. The top of the support structure the EVA’s arms and legs are locked onto collides with a set of impact-absorbers, halting the giant robot in its ascent. Bolts automatically release from their locks and supermagnets are cut from power: the EVA sways a bit, then straightens, the chest heaving slightly as Shinji takes a deep breath to collect himself, even though the Evangelion doesn’t seem to actually breathe itself.

It's dusk, and the steadily blinking lights of the various alarms and commercial-screens-turned-emergency-displays is the only source of illumination in the city, all other power appears to have been cut, and the streets are completely empty. The Angel hangs in the air way off in the distance staring passively at him. _Fun times,_ Shinji thinks to himself.

“So… What now?” Shinji says, keeping his cool, trying and testing how detailed movements he can get from the Eva as it clenches and unclenches its fists and scrapes its foot along the ground a little. From the two-way com-link Misato's voice comes through, “Well, you got the movement part down last time, Shinji, and you’re still armed with the knives. Your imagination is your only limitation here, to be honest. Go at 'im!”

The giant robot rolls its shoulders in response to Shinji doing the same, making some last mental preparations and frowning at Misato’s sudden enthusiasm, something he definitely does not share. _Alright. Here goes_.

The EVA takes a step forward, cracking the asphalt underneath it. Another step, the Eva's fists clench. “Shinji,” Yui says suddenly, “Don't forget to deploy Unit-01's AT field. It's a voice command, just like everything else.”

Shinji blinks, and says “Okay, uhm... Deploy AT field.” A tingling sensation crawls up his spine and he catches his breath as the world around him pulses red. He shifts a little uncomfortably in his seat, “How many of these crazy visual effects am I going to experience driving this thing, mom?”

While he's talking into the intercom he takes his eyes off the Angel in the distance, and doesn't notice that it suddenly has looked up and directly at him, and now it starts to move, coming at him with deceptively high speed. Yui begins formulating an answer to his question but Misato interrupts, shouting at Shinji to watch out ahead and just as he does the Angel passes the first few multi-storey houses, approaching the city core.

As Misato earlier described, it has a vaguely anthropomorphic shape, despite its lack of arms and possessing only one leg, bereft of use since the Angel seems to prefer levitation, a faint halo ever-present above its 'head'. Protruding from some point upon the thing's back are three pairs of slowly moving bony spines with at least half a dozen segments each, ending in spikes the size of the Eva's thumbs which look a little like the skeletal remains of wings. And then there's the face, that white bony mask, perfectly circular and hollow eyesockets gazing straight through him. In the Angels' solar plexus region, covered by a spiderweb of white bone sits a large red orb, glowing balefully red in the night.

Shinji takes a step back and stumbles slightly in doing so, but in looking at the Angel approaching him he manages to force down the flight instinct and holds his ground. He braces, setting the Evangelion's legs wide apart and clenches his fists, waiting as the Angel approaches. As it comes close it lifts an arm and reaches for him, and in a mostly instinctive reaction which Unit-01 mimics with much greater precision Shinji brings the Eva's clenched fist back and punches. He encounters no resistance, the fist connecting head-on with the Angel's bony face and the resulting _BANG_ shatters several nearby windows as metal meets bone. The Angel's back arcs as the upper body bends backwards with the blow in a really odd way, the Angel seemingly unresponsive to the punishment it's being subjected to. Shinji presses the advantage and raises the EVA's foot, putting every ounce of force he can bring up in a kick right in the Angel's solar plexus, cracking several of the rib bones as the Angel is knocked back. It crashes into a nearby building, which falls down upon the black mass with the high-pitched, echoing crash of breaking glass and whining of bending metal, covering the creature in steel, concrete and dust.

Shinji takes a moment to regain the EVA's balance, and to collect himself, thinking _That wasn't so bad,_ and turns his head to the side, facing the little mic in the side of the entry plug that’s connected to Central Dogma, even allowing himself a tinge of pride in his tone, “Well, how'd I do?”

Yui's voice comes through almost immediately, “Good, but you _have_ to destroy that red orb to kill it! Otherwise it’ll just regenerate its wounds.”

“Okay, uh, no problem. One sec…” Shinji turns his face away from the mic and repeats the same procedure he did earlier, thinking _deploy knife_ , and the EVA's left shoulder pylon opens up to reveal a switchblade, single-edged knife. He draws it, somewhat more elegantly than last time, and takes a step towards the pile of rubble under which the Angel lies.

But he takes nothing more than one step because just as the foot slams down upon the ground a golden glow starts seeping through the rubble, and slowly but surely the bits and pieces that once made up a multi-storey building start rising into the air, floating upon tiny golden strings attached to them but to seemingly nothing above. Rising from the ground, significantly higher up in the air than before the Angel looks down at the EVA, surrounded by a dome of broken windows, steel and concrete, the eyes aglow with the same red light as its core. There's another pulse of golden light, and the rubble falls to the ground, whatever power affecting them now gone.

“What the-…” is all Shinji manages. Taking a step backwards, inside the EVA Shinji is suddenly having to struggle to keep his calm despite his every fibre of his being telling him to simply trust in ye olde' instinct to just run away. Misato's voice is suddenly carried into the entry plug by the intercom, “S _hinji, you need to attack again!_ _Don't just stand there!_ ” Misato's voice is something to hold on to, and Shinji manages to shake the worst of the onsetting fear off of himself, retorting, “Look, you could’ve freaking told me that thing has magical powers! What the hell do I do now?!”

Silence for a moment, then Misato answers, her voice more collected now, “Just use the knife to break that bone cage, and stab the core until it breaks. _It's that easy,_ you don't have to worry.”

“The EVA will protect you,” says Yui, in tones so calm and so confident that Shinji can’t help but believe in the words.

“Alright, fine.” Regaining yielded ground the Evangelion tentatively steps forward, gripping the knife tight. Shinji approaches the Angel cautiously, and then jabs clumsily at the spiderweb-like structure protecting the core. The knife encounters a solid wall of energy, the golden light summoned again by the Angel, manifesting as a flat hexagonal barrier that pulses outwards from the centre like water drops in a puddle, the field large enough to encompass the entire Angel. Shinji pushes with all his strength but all that comes of it is sparks as the knife grinds against the shield.

–

“An AT field?!” Ritsuko shouts, Misato staring at the screen in pure disbelief.

“Shinji can't touch the Angel as long as that field is up,” says Yui, remaining mostly composed. Misato turns her head to look at her with a grim expression, hoping that Yui can confirm what she's about to ask, “But that goes both ways, right?”

However, Yui's eyes, as well as those of the others on the bridge, have now firmly locked onto the screen, and as Misato turns her eyes towards the events outside, a certain fear grips her that she hasn't experienced in a long time, sixteen to be precise.

Outside, the Angel's skeletal back appendages have wrapped around the rest of the body like a mummy, the Angel's core starts glowing more intensly. They slowly start sinking into the skin, mounds of flesh starting to form, blistering red like blood before taking on the grey-black coloration of the Angel itself.

“Oh my god...” Fuyutsuki breaths, as the ridges of flesh and skin begins to tear away from the Angel's body, Shinji beginning to hyperventilate inside the EVA because _What the_ _ **fuck**_ _is going on_ as the Angel stretches the new pair of arms, these being longer than the Eva's arms and seems to possess twice the muscle mass, each arm ends in three claw-like fingers. The Angel's halo once again manifests but brighter this time, and the Angel starts advancing on Unit-01, the dust and debris from the collapsed building being pushed out of the Angel’s path as it glides over the ground.

Shinji teeters on the borderline to panic and the evangelion starts backing away from the Angel, stumbling over low buildings and knocking into the side of larger ones in a slow but increasingly frantic attempt to escape. The inevitable happens – the Eva steps on the roof of a two-storey building that holds up for a split second before collapsing, the foot sinking into the building and a massive cellar underneath, and the purple mecha loses balance. Shinji yelps in surprise, his already jumpy mood getting the better of him as he flails wildly all the way down. The massive EVA slams into the ground, tons of earth is dug up when its right elbow comes down first, spreading asphalt and dirt everywhere as the rest of the mass of metal follows, crushing the better part of an entire block in the process. Groaning, Shinji struggles to get hold of something with which to pull himself up, but everything simply breaks in the Eva's grasp and just as Shinji decides to simply brute his way to his feet, and he looks up, he meets the glowing red eyes of the Angel.

“Shinji, GET UP! DEFEND YOURSELF!!” Misato shouts through the inter-com. But at this point Shinji is to terrified to act aggressively, and he rolls onto his back, raising his knife up against the Angel in a desperate attempt to hold it off, and the Angel slowly reaches down for him. He slashes in sheer panic, and the knife cuts two of the Angel's fingers, the thing rearing back in apparent pain from the attack, the cut fingers falling to the ground, blistering and then simply popping, transforming into some sort of bright red liquid that splashes over the Evangelion's chest.

Regaining some mote of confidence at his attack's apparent success, Shinji manages to get the Evangelion into a kneeling position, and stabs at the Angel, striking the bony spiderweb and breaking open a hole in the protective cage. He's just about to attack again when the Angel reaches for Shinji again with its other hand, and he can't get out of the way fast enough. The massive hand comes down upon the EVA's head, grasping it firmly, and lifts the entire Evangelion off the ground, holding the struggling mecha about an EVA-sized foot off the ground.

Almost crushing Unit-01's head in its grasp as it is, Shinji's own aching and pounding so bad he can't think of anything else the Angel sends its other mutilated hand straight into the EVA's gut. Shinji gasps as if he'd been punched himself, although his low synchronization score doesn't give him the full sensation which is fortunate, because the Angel's blow was hard enough to bend the Evangelion's feet-thick abdominal armour plates. The Angel retracts it's arm, the places where the fingers were previously located now blistering stumps, and swings again, this time striking the Evangelion right in the chest, the blow generating a small but briefly visible shockwave as it impacts and the robot is sent flying right into a high building almost half a kilometre away, marks of red upon the armour where the Angel' punched it.

Groaning and gritting his teeth, Shinji manages with some effort to pull the Eva's head out from the building without causing it to fall down, and he looks up at the Angel in the distance, his vision somewhat blurry.

And then, followed by a high-pitched gasp from Yui the city is momentarily lit up by a brilliant yellow and white flash of light, and a beam of pure energy strikes the Evangelion right in the face, scorching armour plates and searing flesh as the Eva falls backwards, arms trailing limply behind it.

– –

* * *

– –

…

…

…

 

“God damnit,I don't care! Do whatever it takes, _cut it open if you have to_ , we have spare plugs!”

 

“Yes, ma'am!”

 

...

...

...

 

“There we go… We should be able to bend it open now, _someone hand me a crowbar_ _!_ ”

 

...

...

...

 

“Oh god... Shinji! Are you-Get the pod over here!”

 

...

…

…

 

“Shinji?!- What? Yes, he's alive! Now get it ready! … Don't you worry, you'll see your parents again, kiddo.”

– –

* * *

– –

Vision blurry and left eye aching as he opens it, Shinji groans, trying his best to keep on to reality, to consciousness. He's been swimming in a sleep-like coma since they brought him out of the entry plug, waking for short moments before falling back to horrid dreams of the battle.

He can feel someone touching his cheek, gently shaking him he but he fades again... Back to the front lines, back in the night. He remembers sitting in a fetal position in the dark entry plug, shaking, the connection to the EVA's mind severed but the pain is still there, burning his left eye.

And then the EVA trembles, lurches, and he can feel it rise. A red glow comes from the depth of the entry plug and a rumbling roar echoes throughout the Evangelion. Looking up, Shinji can once again see, the screen having gone back on so he can again witness the events outside the purple-and-green mecha, and what he sees is the Angel's white face, only inches away from the EVA's own, staring up. _Up_ being the key word, as the EVA seems to have tackled the Angel, knocked it to the ground, and severely broken the Angel's face in the process.

Without Shinji’s order the EVA grabs a hold of the mask and tears it off effortlessly, a blood-like liquid spraying the EVA's face, Shinji yelping like a little child in shock and disgust. Then it all fades as consciousness once again grips him, quite literally this time as he can feel someone shaking him ever so gently by the shoulders. When he opens his eyes he sees his own, or rather a pair very much like his own, staring down at him. Everything focuses intensely for a moment, and he can see the visage of his mother standing over him.

But it does not last, and it all fades to red as he once again gazes out through the rampaging, out-of-control Evangelion's eyes, mechanical devices having washed the blood off, and Shinji stares in numb _I havn't got a damn clue what to think_ as the purple hands beats the sharp, beaked part of the Angel's mask/face down repeatedly upon the crimson red sphere, the cage protecting it severely broken, the crystalline sphere cracking and-

“ _Shinji! Can you hear me?_ ”

“Please, consider what he's been through. I'd say he's warranted to take his time.”

“ _ **How can you-**_ _…“_ someone snaps, stopping mid-sentence to slowly breathe out, “Hell… Oh, Shinji...”

And he keeps his grip on reality this time, the physical indication of this coming in the form a wheezing, laboured groan that's apparently a large enough change from normality to cast silence in the room, and then his bed creaks and he can feel someone sitting down by his bedside.

A tentative, hopeful female voice almost whispers to him, “Shinji? Are you awake?”

Taking a second to collect his messed-up heap of thoughts into something manageable, all that Shinji can get out of himself is “Yeah, I think so,” and he manages to smile a little. For his trouble he is wrapped up in a tight embrace, the familiar smell of his mother closing out everything else.

“Yui, please try not to strangle the boy,” a somewhat sarcastic manly voice interjects, “Reviving him _again_ would not be-” but is broken off by Yui chuckling, and slowly letting Shinji go. By this point he has regained most of his senses, and getting onto his elbows in the bed he recognises two faces inside the spacey room – his mother which is sitting by his bedside and his father, standing by a pair of chairs next to the bed. His face is more stoic than what can be said for Yui, the neutral visage only reinforced by his signature amber glasses. But as Shinji looks up at him he does cracks a small smile, and steps around the chairs, behind Yui, placing a hand on the latter's shoulder, “You had us worried there for a while, son. Welcome back.”

Shinji scratches his head a little, letting out a small sigh and answering in a thin voice, “I- Uhm... Thanks, I guess... What happened to me, and to Godzilla? This isn't heaven or anything?” He looks around briefly, and for a moment he thought he could see someone else standing in the doorway, but as Shinji's eyes turned in that direction they dissapear, letting Shinji only catch a glimpse of blue hair.

“The Angel is quite dead. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore,” Gendo answers after exchanging a smile with Yui, “You were in a coma when Misato's team dug you out of the entry plug, but not really hurt physically. You're fit to leave this place whenever you wish.”

Shinji nods to himself and gets up and into a sitting position next to Yui, “Okay then. So, what happens now?”

“You go home, and rest up,” Gendo says, “I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that school starts next week, too.”

 _Oh, what the hell..._ Shinji thinks and falls back into the bed with a grimace, “School? Cut me some slack, _please_.”

Gendo lets out a chuckle and shakes his head, “Sorry, son. We can't let you neglect your education, and besides it'll be a good way for you to get settled in, make friends.You won't be going to school as much as the other children, but that is only because you will have a lot of training to do here. But as I said, not until next week, you've earned a rest.”

“During that time, you will get some time to familiarise yourself with NERV, ” Yui says, much more collected now, hands sitting in her lap, “Oh, and you will be shown where you're to spend your time here in Tokyo-3, how could I forget that. You've been assigned a personal guardian that you will be living with, namely Misato.”

 _Oh, wonderful,_ Shinji thinks.

And as if summoned by the western proverb _Speak of the devil_ Misato pops up in the doorway, her hair flowing behind her like a cloak as she steps in to the room, smiling wide, “Looking forward to that! So, how is our very own save-the-world-a-thon 9000?”

He considers _down for maintenance,_ but decides against it and by the willpower of a lazy teenager he gets up into a sitting position again. “I'm fine thank you very _frikkin' much,_ for asking,” he says, spelling out the words one by one for sarcastic emphasis. The little exchange produces a small chuckle from Yui, who rises from Shinji's bedside, “He's quite alright, lieutenant colonel. As a matter of fact, your timing is perfect. He's all good to leave the sickbed, so you can take him home now if you're ready.”

“It's not like we don't want you to stay at our place,” Gendo injects as he pushes his glasses up the back of his nose while looking down at Shinji, his earlier smile reduced to a slight strain on the edge of his lips, “But we are extremely busy, even more so now, and for you to live with us would unfortunately be very inconvenient for _all three_ of us.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Shinji says, nodding. _Lot to take in, I'll have to process it all later I think._

Misato's smile having widened into a toothy grin, she crosses her arms over her chest and turns her gaze dreamingly into the ceiling, “Oh, what my friends will say when they get a load of _the saviour of the city lives at my place._.. _”_

 _Yup. Feeling completely safe with this arrangement,_ Shinji thinks.

– –

* * *

– –

Being finished with today's work, Maya Ibuki nods to herself with satisfaction, flips her laptop into closed mode, and leans back to stretch her arms for a moment. Confident that her blood pressure's gone up to the level that she won't faint from standing up, she does exactly that, picking up the half-read 400 page pocket book by the closed computer on her way out of the office. The corridors are always like a maze to her, not only because of their layout but also because she is probably the shortest employee in all of NERV, and with the exemption of the pilots she's the youngest, so everyone stand at least an inch or two taller than her. She wouldn't have any chance to work here if it wasn't for her national top grades in biochemistry, bioengineering and programming.

 _What a day,_ she thinks to herself as she picks her path down the stainless steel corridor, zig-zagging through the thin stream of NERV employees that haven't quit for the day as of yet. She spots a familiar face, head covered with well-kept dark brown hair and a pair of glasses standing by a junction. Maya waves, picks up her speed a bit and she and Makato Hyuga, NERV's third ranking tactical officer exchanges greetings and they both continue down the corridor.

“This must've been _the_ most stressful day of all my days here at NERV,” Makato says with a humorless smile on his lips, “All the damn paperwork... I was thinking of calling for someone to fetch a diving mask and a snorkel! And Shinji worried about drowning in the LCL...”

Maya nods in agreement, smiling still, and looks up at Makato, “Speaking of Shinji... I thought he did wonderfully yesterday. Although it was pretty lucky that he arrived before the Angel. If we hadn't gotten the chance to train him in any fashion, things might've gone horribly...” she says, her voice taking on a fearful note towards the end of the sentence.

“Indeed. He would've fallen flat on his face on his first or second step, I bet. Rei didn't perform much better than he did during her first trial run. And she didn't have an upcoming battle on her mind.” Makato being honest as always, but then he makes a small grimace together with tilting his head to the side a little, like one who just saw the other side of an argument, “But, then again Shinji didn't have to deal with synchronising with something like the Vessel. Took Rei months, and when she finally got it working she said it still resisted.”

Suddenly someone places a hand on each of Maya and Makato's shoulders, prompting Maya to yelp and spin on her heel toward Shigeru Aoba, giving him what constitutes a hard slap on the arm for her, “ **Damnit,** Shigeru! Every time! Will you ever quit?!” But a grin spreads across her face as she admonishes him, which is met by Shigeru's own, full of amusement, “I know, right! And I promise I'll quit the day you grow the muscle to actually hurt me.”

“Oh well then, I'll start going to the gym immediately!” Maya states with a confident grin, a nod to herself for emphasis.

Shigeru looks down at Maya with a sceptical gaze, his shoulder-long brown hair making him look like Maya's older brother as he eyes her for a second before answering, his voice a match to his expression, “When you actually go to the gym then please give me a call, 'cus I need to be there with the camera!”

Maya raises an eyebrow, her expression an equal mix of confusion and amusement, “Oh? Is that so strange? I thought we had established Makato here as the resident couch potato,” and Maya nods in said cough potato's direction, prompting him in turn to make about the same face Maya did a moment ago, “Hey, don't bring me into this!”

The conversation ends with a collective chuckle, the three friends then walk in relative silence as they pick their way through the maze of corridors making up NERV's west, or _yellow_ district. NERV is divided into four districts, each having different functions and that can be completely sealed from each other should the need arise. The west district is where most offices are, and different NERV employees of somewhat higher ranking employees carry out paperwork and the like.

Having entered a lift and ridden it for a few minutes, the three are now deposited into a large train station-esque area with several rows of card-operated gates that lead out into the station itself, the trains in question leading up to Tokyo-3. They go through a gate and boarded one of the trains, settling down, Maya speaks up again, “I wonder how thing'll get from now on... Assuming there will be another Angel attack, that is.” She taps her fingers gently on her bag as she speaks, her expression more a display of honest curiosity than the earlier unconditional cheerfulness. Shigeru is the first to pick up on the question, “Are you kidding? Things will get hectic as all _hell_ now that this place is effectively getting militarised and prepared for further Angel attacks. The days of sunshine and rainbows are over, I'd think.”

Upon Shigeru mentioning Tokyo-3 becoming militarised Maya's gaze falls to the floor, all expression drained from her face and a heavy sigh seeps out between her lips. She makes an effort to collect herself, and does shine up a little as Makato continues, “Indeed. And there will be another Angel attack, I'm sure of it. But when it comes, we'll be ready. And it won't be all bad, right? The city's still the same.”

Nodding, Maya slowly regains her smile, “I guess you're right, both of you,” her voice a bit fragile, thinner than earlier. She's clutching her book tightly against her chest as she goes on, “And I'm confident we can make the best of it.”

Sighing and breaking into a hearty chuckle, Shigeru grabs Maya by the shoulder and shakes her a bit, “C'mon, Maya! Don't go all emotional on us now! It's the second day of the war and you're already going on about that? Geez, you really-” _SMACK._

“Be quiet, Shigeru! Hold yourself!” Maya barks out in a as authoritarian tone as she can manage, bringing her clenched fist back from punching Shigeru in the shoulder back to her lap, “I swear to God I'll start going to the gym, and next time you interrupt a wonderful 'friend moment' like that, you'll be sorry!

The three share in a laugh as the train clears the surface and they gaze upon the setting sun over Tokyo-3, a golden glow reflecting on the crimson ocean.

– –

* * *

– –

Gendo and Yui watch Misato leave with Shinji, waving goodbye and smiling. The door closes and Yui completely deflates, sighing as she sinks down into the hospital bed. She massages the bridge of her nose, looking down at her knees, "That was a little intense."

"You did well," Gendo replies, "I am glad he is taking all of this as well as he is."

"I hope I'm doing the right thing," Yui blurts out, her lips pressing into a thin line.

"It is too late to ask yourself that question now." Gendo adjusts his glasses and walks up to the window, "Now it's all been set into motion. She would not want us to doubt ourselves, or eachother."

 

**End of 'Evangelion – Beneath the archangel's wing' prologue.**

 

 

 

 


End file.
